Coupling



I J. BJUR COUPLING Filed April 30. 1919 -7 {WITT/9 I 4.251%@ 1.9 m

INVENTOR f JOSEPH BIJUR ao rately aligned in any fthe manners reao driving relation without, the exertionbf sub- Patented Aug. 28, 1928. l UNITED STATES PATENT foFFicE.

` Josera nnen, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

A er'iizrritrivef.-

Application led April 30, 1919. Serial N0. 293,655.

'llhis invention relates to mechanical power Coupling with a lesser number of plates. transmittingmeans, and with regard to its Figure .3 isfa'face View otone of the plates. more speciiic features to couplings for driv Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the ing magnetos or the like. A line 4--4 of Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a plan Une object 'of this' invention is to provide of the an eiicient coupling for transmitting power end.. y n between shafts inaccurately aligned, which Similar reference characters refer to simiyco'uplingshall be durable in construction, lar parts throughout the different 'views of and which shall eiiectively avoid looseness io ot parts and consequentnoise.

Another object is to provide a coupling of the above type which shall act without substantial lateral pressure or .loss 'of power, though the shafts connected be somewhat 'is displacedlaterally'or angularly or though they be in slightly diiierent lplanes. Another obj ect is to provide a cou ling of the above type which will satis actorily transmit the torque between shafts inaccucoupling viewed from the magneto the drawings.

.Referring now to the drawings I have i11- dicated by way of example an application of is lshown a fragmentary view of a conventional electrical generator l having an armature shaft 2 with 4preferably the usual extension 3,liaving a threaded end 4 on which is threaded the usual lock nut 41, andhaving through said threaded end. v In approximate alignment with generator ierred to above, while preventing 'any rela.- Shaft 2, I have shown a magneto 5, the dey tive .displacement between the shafts in the; tallslof which constitute no partA of my in- -diI-ectn of rotation y ventionjand need therefore not be described. Another object is to provide a coupling: 4The magnetov shaft 6 preferably, as is usual a5 of the above type which shall be relatively in'magnetos, has a tapered extension'7 with durable, short and compact. a 'threadedlend 8- onwhich is threaded a 'f Another object is to provide a coupling 'of locknut 81. i the above type which shall be readily susmy coupling for driving amagneto; There ar Cotter-pin 46 or the equivalent extending Y For the purpose Iot'driving the magneto ceptible of application or detachment fromfrom' the generator l provide my coupling whigh will now be described. It should be noted however, that the drive of the magneto through the generator is onlyI shown by way vof example,l my coupling being1 also applistantial strain on the parts thereof.

Another object is to provide a coupling of the above 'type having any or all ofthe prop- Y erties set forth above, for eiiicieiitly driving Cable t0 gOOd adVaIltagG fOI dlVHg themagneto from" any other `engine-accessory, or from the engine direct without`,interposing any accessory machine.v

The coupling` is"pr efera 35 f a magneto or the like, accurately.-maintain-l ing'the timing'thereof, though the driving shaft and the magneto shaft are misaligned 4 in any respect within the limits encountered in practice, when -no special precautions are 40 taken. v l i @ther objects 'will be in part obvious and i in part pointed out hereinaften t fIIl the Test 0f vthe CQD'SIUCOII. rllie invention accordingly consistsl inthe H lembl" Pfffelbly .hasfdiam'etrically oppofeatures ofconstruction, combinations ofele- Slt@ COIICEWIQ 0I depressions 10 and Ilexplurality. of superposed identical Yannular -plates 9 of heat-treated spring steel, one of L a5 ments and arrangement of parts which willy tending the width thereof and along a'relai be `exeinpliiiedin the construction hereintively short sector, and identical diametriblybuilt up'of a( I ywhich 1s lshown in Figures 3 and 4' apart g after setforth,'land the scope ofthe applicacallyJ opposite raisedL portions or convexities Y ftion of which willbe indicated in the followl2 and 13 midwaybetween' the depressions ing claims. l0l and"` 11. yFach concavity and'convexityl ln the drawings wherein are shown one or Ahas a circular aperture 14'with its center on more of various possible embodiments of thc the bisector thereof and in proximity to the several features of this invention, Figure l is Aouter periphery of the plate. The plate may v 'a side view of my coupling connected for opthus be regarded as made up of four quad- ".eration. Figure 2 is a view taken in central -rantsor curved links l5, eachextending be- 55 longitudinal section of Figurel showing a tween two adjacent apertures 14.' ,The opening of the annulus is preferably. a square having rounded corners 45 between the apertures 14 thus forming the central portion of each quadrant narrower and more flexible than the ends adjacent the apertures 14.

If the plate 9 be viewed from the side opposite that shown in Figure v3, obviously the concavities would appear as convexitiesd and vice versa. To avordfc'o'nfusion, each plate will therefore be regardedl throughout thespecification and the claims as viewed from the left in Figures 1 and 2,` the adjacent plate, to the right of any given plate being designated as the succeeding plate with respect thereto.- The platesA starting with plate 91 on the left will be' designated lin succession,

as the first, second, third, etc.

Referring to the drawings thesecond plate 9E isfsuperposed upon they first with the two convexities of said second plate one against each of the concavities of the first plate. Figure C1 of the drawings shows one of said convexities at 122 against one of saidO concavities 101.

Means is provided for securing the two plates together at the said contacting portions, this means being by preference a pair of bolts, onef which -is shown at 171, each,`

extending through one of the pair of aligned apertures inthe contacting sectors, a nut plate resting respectively against the con cavities 102l and 112 of the second plate, bolts and nuts being similarly employed forholding the said second and third plates together at Ildiametricallyy opposite points. 'In this manner the platesare Vsecured together, the

,' concavities of each plate having the conveXiway between the first sets of bolts. It vis .ties'of'the succeeding one in Contact therewith, said plates being clamped togetherat such contacting sectors by means of bolts and nuts. f

lConsidering -any bolt' as associated with that one of the twolplates it connects; on which its head rests, it is noted that any bolt 1n the assembled construction connects its .associated plate with the next plate at points half-way between the bolts associated with such neXtplate. The bolts for each plate are thus displaced 90o with respect to the bolts for the adjacent plates. It is thus seen that the bolts connecting each even to lthe subsequent odd numbered plate are aligned and similarly the bolts connecting each odd to 'the subsequent even numbered plate are aligned,';the second sets of bolts being half noted that the head of each bolt is, inrelatively close proximity to the nut'corresponde ing to the adjacent bolt in alignment therewith as at 19, for a purpose appearing more fully below.

The plates assembled as above described, designated on the drawings in their entirety by the latter T, constitute a flexible torque transmission member. This member, as will appear more fully below, has a limited amount of flexibility in every direction, eX- cept in that of torque transmission. Y

Means are preferably provided constituting a part of thev coupling for securing the flexible member T to the generator or other driving shaft 2 at one end and to the magneto shaft 6 at the other. For this purpose I preferably provide a driving or generator shaft collar 20, adapted t0 fit over the shaft extension 3, and to be secured against rotation with respect to saidA extension by means of a Woodruff key 22 or' some equivalent connection. The collar 20 is preferably provided as shown in the drawings with an annularf flange 23 substantially at the eXtreme end of the coupling secured to the collar by spot welding or any other desired means or method as at 24.

The flange 23 is preferably secured to the last`ofthe spring plates`9x, that is to the plate to the -extreme right, by means of bolts 17X passing through the concavities 12x rand 13X of said plate, and' having nuts 18x threadedl thereon and bearing against the right side of flange 23 to clamp plate l9X and flange 23 together. It is to be lunderstood that yother means may be provided with ,Good results for securing collar 2O to the flexible transmission T, but I prefer to employ v4the specific construction shown and described.' i

Means is also provided preferably also constituting a part ofl the coupling for securing the flexible member T to the magneto.

For this purpose,`I preferably provide an interiorly tapered magneto, collar 31 adapted to fit snugly .over the tapered shaft eXtension 7 and to be frictionally secured thereto by tightening nut 81. The magneto collar loo 31 is provided with a flange 33 secured thereto in a similar manner to the'connection of the flange 23 to the generator shaft collar 20.

The torque from the flexible member T is transmitted to the flange 33 by way of a lock plate 34 to which .the first springxplate 91 is preferably clamped at its convexities 12]L and 131' by means `of diametrically opposite screws 17a passing through the lockplate, and co-operating nuts/18d resting against the spring plat-e.

The locking plate has a flange 36 inter- -rupted at equidistant points by slots 37 .thus

orming a plurality .o-f tongues 38'. Each 4tongue is provided with shoulders 39 at opposite edges. and the flange 33 has equidistant peripheral slots 40 into which the ends of the tongues 38 extend as at 41.

By way of illust-ration I have shown every fourthI tongue extending for an appreciable .y distance beyond the plate 33 as at 42'said porscribed above, t e ange tion`42 having a transverse groove 43 therein for lodging a lock ring 44. 4 'lhe lock ring may thus be readily applied ends of the shaft for accommodating secure ing nutsor the like for holding 'the collars' in place. Theflexible enclosing element for transmitting the torque adds nothing'to this to firmly'hold the tongue ends 42 within slots spring plate is first secured at convexities 121 andl31 to the lock plate A34 by means of bolts and nuts 17a, 18a. The plates are then successively-built u in the manner fully dey y late 23 for the generator collar being fina y secured to the last of the spring plates, 9".

To apply my coupling, l vseparate my A magneto collar 31 and its attacheddange coupling without the magneto vcollar is applied to the generator by passing collar` 33 from the lock plate 34 by first -removing lock ring 44. The magneto being apart from the engine, vl apply the tapered magneto collarfthereto and lock it in place fric` tionally by means of the lock nut 81. The

2O over the generator. shaft end 3 and locking it in place by means of lock nut-4?. By reason of the material space between the minimum length. I p

Moreover, the elementsVY for securing the-y shaft collars to the shafts being completely enclosed bythe flexible 'member of cylindrical contour, it will be seen that my construction avoids dangerous cutting projections.

ln the application' of this device the generator and magneto shafts need not be accurately aligned. Whether the shafts are at a small angle to each other orare parallelly displaced orare 'in slightly different planes, thejcoupling will yield slightly in the direction required for accommodation suy to such misalignment particularly at the i moreexible ortions `1.5 of the `quadrants but `this coup 'ng as is apparent has substantially no flexibility in the torsional direction. ln other Words theflexibility Tof the coupling 'issubstantially confined to the bending of the steel itselfV in the quadrants -between the bolts, the joint between the nut 4l and the interior; contour of the flex ible member, ample space is allowed for the use of a socket wrench to effect the tightening. Thereupon ythe magneto is mounted upon the eng-ine for approximately correct timing, whereupon the slots 40 on plate 33 are fitted between theadjacent tongues 38 on plate 34, andb held in place by lock ring 44. rllhe application' of the lock ring is easy, requiring no manipulations adjacent the shaft.

Any further fine adjustment of the magneto may be made by rotation of the magneto collar relative to the magneto shaft. v, By myconstruction it will be noted lthat although l provide a flexible member of substantial length and capable of allowing for the most extreme cases of shaft mis-align-- ment encountered in practice, yet the overall length of-the coupling is in no way increased l with respect to that of constructions in which shorter flexible elements more limited in their' adaptability are employed. The flexible element of my lcoupling being generally tubular in contour completely encloses the shaft. collars andthe meansfor Isecuring the same to the shafts,- the flexible element l' itselfbeing secured to the flanges 23 and 33 on the shaft collars, which flanges are substantially at the extreme ends of .the coupling.- The parts enclosed by j the flexible elementare portions essential to couplings regardless Ofdesi cludemerely thes aft collars and the free since ,these partsl ini my couplingV if desired, with the olt heads plates being substantially rigid. lin operation the magneto is thus kept in perfect timing relation to the drivin vshaft even though such shafts be. misaligne in any sof the various waysencountered in practice. l

'lhe gap419 between each nut and the succeeding bolt head inalignment'therewith'is preferably made so small that any further Hexure vbeyond that required for running out.

of line by more than in the neighborhood of fg of an inch is prevented, this amount,y

lllll oit-deflection exceeding that occurring under normal conditions.v

Thus my coupling will successfully ldrive the magneto in perfect timing` relationheven though the adjacent shaft ends lare as much as f ofY an inch out of line.` j f By my invention it lis to vbe noted that l not only render possible satisfactory mag# neto driving with misalignment of shafts but my' apparatus is durable, as it distrib-l utes the flexure among a multiplicity of plates so that the bending for any individual plate will be :only a fraction `ofthe total bending which would bel suffered 'if only a single flexure` piecev Were employed.

lf relatively sliding elements were inlio eluded in acoupling for transmitting torque j between misaligned shafts, relatively yrapid Wea'r would ordinarily take place, because of the difficulties attending lubrication of the parts, and ,looseness and noisyl operation would occur after 4a relatively brief period of operations On the other hand if thencoupling include fabric, leather or the like in its construction, its durability would obviously be materially below that of applicants construction.

It is to be understood that I ma assemble -las occupying the position of the nuts and vice versa. It is Yfurther to be understood that other types of joints for the plates may be employed with good effect, instead of my bolts. f f p My coupling is not confined in its use to the driving of a magneto, but may be employed for driving apparatus, shafts or mato magneto driving, it is thus seen that it may be used effectively in numerous other relations. i

It will thus be seen that there is herein described, apparatus in which the several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatus in its action attains the various objects of the invention and is well suited to -meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or 'shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. p

Having thus `described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- I i' y ters-Patent is:

yof its periphery, contacting the succeeding plate at parts of the periphery thereof mid- Vun way between the deflections thereon, said plates being otherwise spaced from each other, and a plurality of bolts, for securing the respective deflections to the parts in con` ta'ct therewith on the contiguous plates.

3. In a coupling, in combination, a plurality of substantially identical coaxial annular spring plates, each plate having diametricallyv opposite convexities. and substantially similar diametrically opposite concavities intermediate said convexities,

the concavities of each plate contacting the convexities of the succeeding one, and a plurality of fastening means, tending through the contacting concavities and conveXities of contiguous plates.

`4. In a coupling, in combination, a plurality of substantially identical coaxial annular spring plates, each plate having alternate radial concavities and convexities spaced 9-0 degrees apart, the concavities of cach .plate contacting the convexities of the succeeding one, bolts extending through the contacting concavities and convexities of contiguous plates, and nuts co-operating with said bolts.

5. As an article of manufacture, an annular spring steel plate, having depressions in one side at diametrically opposite points, and similar depressions in the other side, mid-way between lthe first pair of depressiolns, each said depression having a bolt io e.

6. As an article of manufacture, an annular spring steel plate, having depressions in one side at diametrically opposite points, and similar depressions in the other side, mid-way between the first pair of depressions, each said depression having a bolt hole, Isaid plate being reduced in cross-sectional area intermediate said bolt holes.

7 In a coupling, in combination, a magneto collar having a flange with equidistant slots at 'its periphery, a torque transmitting member including a plate having tongues extending at an angle thereto and into said slots, and a lock ring encircling said tongues near their free ends.

8. In aeoupling, in combination, a plu rality of superposed circular spring plates, each of said plates having a pair of fasteners securing it to the next at points intermediate the fasteners of the latter, one of the end plates having equidistant tongues extending at an angle thereto, a magneto collar having a flange, said tongues extending into slots in said flange, and means for preventing separation between said plates and said collar.

9. In a coupling or the like, in combination, a plurality of superposed spring plates,

a pair of diametrically opposite bolts passing through each plate, and through openings half-way between the bolts of the succeeding plate, the plates being deflected toward each other where traversed by a bolt, and a nut co-operating with each bolt, whereby a small gap is left between any nut and the head of the adjacent bolt to limit the distortion of said plates.

l0. In combination, a driving shaft, a substantially aligned driven shaft, a coupling connecting said shafts and comprising a shaft collar on each said shaft, each collar having a flange substantially at right angles to the axis thereof, substantially the entire lll length of said collars` extending between said langes, a flexible element having substantially the inner and outer contour of a tube, the inner diameter of said flexible eleend to end, and free from cutting projections.

l2. In combination, a drivin shaft, a sub-4' stantially aligned drivenha ta coupling connecting said shafts and comprising a shaft collar on each said shaft, each collar having a flange substantially at right angles to the axis thereof, substantially the entire length of said collars extending between said flanges, a flexible element having substantially the inner and outer contour of a tube, the inner diameter of said flexible element being materially larger than the diameter of said shaft to permit ready use of a tool for securing one` of said collars to the corresponding shaft. u

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this speeiiication this 12th day of Apru, 1919.

f JOSEPH BIJUR. 

